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About Deloitte Insights

Deloitte’s Insights for C-suite executives and board members provide information and resources to help address the challenges of managing risk for both value creation and protection, as well as increasing compliance requirements.

Views & Analysis

Although board seats don’t become available all that often, as more organizations broaden their definition of diversity the pool of potential candidates is expanding. What does it take to land such a spot? Industry and international experience, a knowledge of risk and technology issues, and personal traits that range from intellectual curiosity to unassailable integrity are just some of the qualities and qualifications that matter. Learn how to assess your viability and what steps you might take to enhance your appeal to search committees.

Continued uncertainty about the economy and increased regulation across several industries have required a more informed and efficient use of capital. Working with management, the board of directors can play a fundamental role in the capital allocation process through its oversight function, including participating in strategy development, examining risks, comparing strategy to results and focusing on key investment terms. Understand how boards can help guide the capital allocation process by challenging business plans and strategy, and reviewing capital allocation alternatives, among other efforts.

As proxy season approaches, several governance issues and proposals are likely to emerge, reflecting shareholders’ increased attention to how companies’ stances on governance matters can impact shareholder value, according to Carol Schumacher, who has held roles as investor relations (IR) officer and corporate affairs officer at a Fortune 10. She discusses shareholders’ expectations for the governance information that management provides, and what IR can do to help companies respond, in a conversation with Sanford Cockrell III, U.S. national managing partner, CFO Program, Deloitte LLP.

Editor's Choice

Boards and C-suite executives overwhelmingly see risk as having an important role in value creation, but just 17% of respondents say they are actively using risk to drive returns, according to a new global survey from Deloitte. The survey also found that senior stakeholders want chief risk officers to spend significantly more time playing the strategist role, with a majority of respondents saying their risk officers should participate more in setting the strategic direction of the company and aligning risk management strategies accordingly.

Traditionally, internal audit (IA) has focused on providing assurance with respect to known risks and the effectiveness of controls in mitigating those risks. Regulators, however, are increasingly interested in an organization’s ability to identify blind spots and other vulnerabilities that may undermine the integrity of the risk management environment, including the risk of misconduct. IA functions can play a pivotal role by substantively testing culture and identifying potential risk-related outliers that may not be visible via other means, such as supervisory frameworks, escalations, compliance assessment and testing, and previous audits.

Identifying and managing strategic risks can be a difficult task. To add to the challenge, many companies have traditionally separated their risk and strategy functions and think of risk as more of a compliance responsibility rather than a dynamic tool for value creation, business performance management and growth. However, companies that align strategy and risk can be better served to allow for a process of “strategic resiliency,” which involves anticipating, knowing and acting on risks when introducing or executing new strategies as a way of increasing the chances of success in spite of uncertainty.